Homelessness help from Hull City Council

If you are homeless tonight, or worried you are about to lose your home, contact Hull City Council straight away — it cannot turn you away without looking at your case. You do not have to wait until you are on the street: for anyone eligible, the council's duties begin once you are likely to become homeless within 56 days.^[40]

Online. If you have nowhere to stay tonight, or it is not safe to stay where you are, the council asks you to start a Housing Advice assessment (opens in new tab) online. If you are threatened with homelessness, you can also use its online referral form. The council says a member of its Homelessness Prevention and Options team (Housing Options) will contact everyone with a housing need.^[23]

In person. If you have no phone or internet, go to a customer service centre and use its facilities to contact the Housing Options team: the Wilson Centre on Alfred Gelder Street in the city centre, or the Orchard Centre at 210 Orchard Park Road. Both open 9am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday, from 10.30am on Wednesdays.^[23]

By phone. The council's main line, 01482 300 300, takes calls about housing emergencies at any hour.^[29]

Out of hours. The council's domestic abuse housing page says to call 01482 300 304 if you, or someone you are supporting, need emergency accommodation outside normal working hours. The council's directory lists the same number as its out-of-hours Emergency Duty Team line.^[29] If you or someone else is in danger, call 999.

If you are fleeing domestic abuse. If you are in immediate danger, call 999; if you cannot speak, press 55 when calling from a mobile. The council's Domestic Abuse Housing Hub can help you stay safely in your home or find somewhere else. Call it on 01482 612 040 and choose option one. If it is not safe to talk on the phone, go to a customer service centre.^[29]

Sleeping rough. The council's Rough Sleeper Team and its outreach service, Hull Street Outreach Service, help people sleeping rough. You can refer yourself or someone else by emailing Hull.sos@cgl.org.uk or through StreetLink.^[35]

Free housing advice from Shelter or Citizens Advice is available at any point.

Hull's duties come from Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and are the same across England — the general homelessness guide explains each one in detail. In short:

• If you are eligible and likely to become homeless within 56 days, the council owes you the prevention duty — reasonable steps to help you keep your home or find another before you lose it.^[40]
• If you are already homeless and eligible, it owes you the relief duty — reasonable steps to help you secure accommodation.^[40]
• In both cases it must assess your circumstances and record the steps you and the council will each take in a personalised housing plan.^[40]
• If you are eligible, in priority need and did not become homeless intentionally, the main housing duty can follow once the relief duty ends. The council must then secure accommodation for your household until the duty ends in one of the ways the law allows.^[40]

How Hull says it helps. The council says it can help you keep your home, advise you on finding somewhere to live and how to pay for it, and refer you to other agencies. It says that because of the shortage of homes, help may mean a private rented or housing association home rather than a council one.^[23]

The shortage of council homes. The council's applications page does not date its figures. When checked in October 2026, it said that over the previous 12 months 4,400 people asked it for homelessness advice and 5,100 made housing applications. It let 1,197 homes in the same period.^[26] Not everyone owed a duty will be offered a council home.^[26]

Young people. If you are aged 16 or 17, or a care leaver, the council's Targeted Youth Support service runs Housing Options appointments for young people.^[36]

Without a local connection to Hull, your case may be referred to a council where you have one — never to a district where you would run the risk of violence, including domestic abuse.^[40] Immigration and residence status can affect what help you are eligible for — the general homelessness guide sets out who is eligible.^[40]

If Hull has reason to believe you may be homeless, eligible and in priority need, it must secure interim accommodation for you while it looks into your case. The duty arises before any decision on your application.^[40]

Whatever is provided must be suitable for your whole household. For households with dependent children or a pregnant member, bed and breakfast can be used only where nothing else is available — and then for no more than 6 weeks in total.^[40]

The local picture. Government figures record 229 households in temporary accommodation arranged by Hull on 31 March 2026, including 123 households with children. Of the 229, 144 were in council or housing association homes and 47 in bed and breakfast. None of the 6 households with children in bed and breakfast had been there more than 6 weeks.^[38]

Where you may be placed. The council says temporary accommodation could be in any part of Hull, depending on what is free at the time. If all its own temporary homes are full, it uses hotels, and it tries to move people on to more suitable places. It also says being in temporary accommodation will not speed up your application.^[28]

The council's own temporary homes. In its 2025/26 annual report, the council says it bought 62 homes for temporary accommodation during the year, giving it 165 in total. It says its spending on privately owned temporary accommodation has fallen. These are the council's own figures.^[37]

If you think accommodation offered under a duty is unsuitable, you can normally ask for a review. Emergency accommodation provided while the council investigates is challenged differently.^[40]

Section 202 of the Housing Act 1996 gives you the right to have most important homelessness decisions looked at again.^[40] That covers decisions on:

• your eligibility, or whether you count as homeless
• priority need, or a finding of intentional homelessness
• the council bringing a duty to an end
• whether accommodation offered to you is suitable.^[40]

You have 21 days from the date you are told the decision, unless the council agrees in writing to give you longer. A review that goes against you — or one you do not hear back about in time — can then be taken to the county court on a point of law under section 204, again within 21 days.^[40]

Asking Hull for a review. The council says that if your application is unsuccessful, it will send you a letter explaining its decision and its reasons, and that you can ask for a review.^[28] It does not publish a separate review guide, so follow your decision letter. Ask in writing within the 21 days, even if you are still gathering your reasons, and keep a dated copy.^[40]

Homelessness cases fall within civil legal aid, so a legal aid solicitor can advise on and run a review or appeal at no cost if you qualify. Check through the government's Find a Legal Aid Adviser tool.^[53]

Complaints are a separate route. A complaint about how your case was handled goes through the council's complaints process first, then the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. That route cannot replace a section 202 review or a section 204 appeal, which have their own strict deadlines.^[50]